Ophir Pass, Never Again

It was a cool Colorado day in July and the Richerson’s decided to dance with danger. They were on their way to Silverton, and to get there they had to go through Ophir Pass, a scenic but dangerous route.

Well we didn’t know how dangerous til it was too late.

The first part of the drive was nice, at least as nice as extreme bumpiness gets.

The fact any of my pictures turned out clear is honestly a miracle.

We pulled over to let some cars pass us, and after fifteen minutes we noticed them on this ridge;

From far away the road looks drivable, but when you are a 6,000 pound dually truck, things get real small real fast.

Our back tires were about 12 inches from sliding off the mountain.

And this was my view;

Personally, I thought it was awesome, but I can’t speak for the rest of my family. Mom was terrified (she hates heights) and even Dad was nervous (that’s saying something). Lily was quote, “Concerned”.

So after fifteen minutes of eternity, we stopped at a turn to catch our breaths (and for drone footage). There were these little rodents running around that we later found out were American Pikas. Super cute.

This wasn’t the end of our journey though.

Now we had to go down the mountain. A few jeeps passed us and told us that there had been a mudslide, and that we might be too heavy to drive through. Well there was no possible way we were turning around so we decided to check it out. Turns out the more cars that passed by, the mire the mud went away, so by the time we got there it was manageable (Mom still got out of the car).

If you heard the loud crunching noise, that was just a plastic part, nothing super important. The guy taking our video was also going through the pass, and he had a wench if the need presented itself (luckily it was not 😅).

The rest of the drive was a breeze, but by the time we got to Silverton most everything was closed, so we just ate and left for back home, taking the highway this time.

If you think my family is crazy you are definitely right. Please pray for my sanity and feel free to share my posts. If you want go ahead and sign up for Road Duchess with the Spaces by Wix app so you won’t miss an adventure. Thanks guys.

-R.D.

P.S. Since Bear is so cute he’ll get a daily picture from now on. Today;

“I don’t think you understand. I need some of that bacon. Right now.”